六月十四日
又要以耶和華爲樂……（詩37：4）
這話在不明白敬虔之奧秘的人必定以爲希奇，而在真正相信的人便知道這是重申一個確認的真理。信徒的生活乃是以神爲樂（在神裏面快樂），在此足證一個真正相信的人必滿了福樂和歡喜。不信神的人和嘴唇上敬畏的人幷不把宗教看作是一件可喜可樂的事，他們認爲宗教乃是服務、責任或需要，而不當作是歡喜和快樂的事。他們的信，若不是爲了要得什麽，便是因爲不敢不如此。
有很多人必定認爲以神爲樂的思想是希奇的，他們以爲“聖潔”和“喜樂”是截然不同的。但是那認識基督的信徒，知道喜樂和相信是結合在一起的，就是地獄的門也不能把它們分開的。那全心愛神的人，必發現他的道路乃是歡樂的，他的途徑乃是平安的。聖徒在神裏面必然得到這樣的歡樂，這樣滿溢的喜樂，這樣浩蕩的福樂，因此在服待他的時候不再是出于習慣，就是全世界都唾弃他名的時候仍緊緊地跟隨他。
我們敬拜神幷非出于強迫，我們的相信幷非鎖鏈，我們的承認亦非捆綁，我們追求聖潔幷不是出于催促，我們盡責也不是出于強制。不，我們的敬虔是我們的歡樂，我們的盼望是我們的福樂，我們的責任是我們的喜樂。喜樂與真實相信是互相聯屬的，像根之與花、真理之與實體一樣地不可分割。事實上，它們像兩顆鑲金的明亮的珍寶一樣。我們嘗到神愛的滋味，心中說不出來的喜樂就必大增，幷且現在也就過著天堂的生活了。
June
14
“Delight
thyself also in the Lord.” — Psalm 37:4
The teaching of these words must seem very
surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere
believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the
believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of
the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly
persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them
it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they
attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else
because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so
strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart
than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know
Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the
gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their
hearts, find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are
peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the
saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving Him from custom, they
would follow Him though all the world cast out His name as evil. We fear not
God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no
bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is
our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.
Delight and true religion are as allied as
root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two
precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.
“‘Tis when we taste Thy love,
Our joys divinely grow,
Unspeakable like those above,
And heaven begins below.”
